Population genetic structure of Culex tritaeniorhynchus in different types of climatic zones in China.

BACKGROUND: Culex tritaeniorhynchus is widely distributed in China, from Hainan Island in the south to Heilongjiang in the north, covering tropical, subtropical, and temperate climate zones. Culex tritaeniorhynchus carries 19 types of arboviruses. It is the main vector of the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), posing a serious threat to human health. Understanding the effects of environmental factors on Culex tritaeniorhynchus can provide important insights into its population structure or isolation patterns, which is currently unclear. RESULTS: In total, 138 COI haplotypes were detected in the 552 amplified sequences, and the haplotype diversity (Hd) value increased from temperate (0.534) to tropical (0.979) regions. The haplotype phylogeny analysis revealed that the haplotypes were divided into two high-support evolutionary branches. Temperate populations were predominantly distributed in evolutionary branch II, showing some genetic isolation from tropical/subtropical populations and less gene flow between groups. The neutral test results of HNQH (Qionghai) and HNHK(Haikou) populations were negative (P < 0.05), indicating many low-frequency mutations in the populations and that the populations might be in the process of expansion. Moreover, Wolbachia infection was detected only in SDJN (Jining) (2.24%), and all Wolbachia genotypes belonged to supergroup B. To understand the influence of environmental factors on mosquito-borne viruses, we examined the prevalence of Culex tritaeniorhynchus infection in three ecological environments in Shandong Province. We discovered that the incidence of JEV infection was notably greater in Culex tritaeniorhynchus from lotus ponds compared to those from irrigation canal regions. In this study, the overall JEV infection rate was 15.27 per 1000, suggesting the current risk of Japanese encephalitis outbreaks in Shandong Province. CONCLUSIONS: Tropical and subtropical populations of Culex tritaeniorhynchus showed higher genetic diversity and those climatic conditions provide great advantages for the establishment and expansion of Culex tritaeniorhynchus. There are differences in JEV infection rates in wild populations of Culex tritaeniorhynchus under different ecological conditions. Our results suggest a complex interplay of genetic differentiation, population structure, and environmental factors in shaping the dynamics of Culex tritaeniorhynchus. The low prevalence of Wolbachia in wild populations may reflect the recent presence of Wolbachia invasion in Culex tritaeniorhynchus.

A dual-signal triple-readout optical sensing platform for α-glucosidase and ß-glucosidase activity monitoring and inhibitor screening based on luminescent covalent organic framework.

BACKGROUND: As promising biomarkers of diabetes, α-glucosidase (α-Glu) and ß-glucosidase (ß-Glu) play a crucial role in the diagnosis and management of diseases. However, there is a scarcity of techniques available for simultaneously and sensitively detecting both enzymes. What's more, most of the approaches for detecting α-Glu and ß-Glu rely on a single-mode readout, which can be affected by multiple factors leading to inaccurate results. Hence, the simultaneous detection of the activity levels of both enzymes in a single sample utilizing multiple-readout sensing approaches is highly attractive. RESULTS: In this work, we constructed a facile sensing platform for the simultaneous determination of α-Glu and ß-Glu by utilizing a luminescent covalent organic framework (COF) as a fluorescent indicator. The enzymatic hydrolysis product common to both enzymes, p-nitrophenol (PNP), was found to affect the fluorometric signal through an inner filter effect on COF, enhance the colorimetric response by intensifying the absorption peak at 400 nm, and induce changes in RGB values when analyzed using a smartphone-based color recognition application. By combining fluorometric/colorimetric measurements with smartphone-assisted RGB mode, we achieved sensitive and accurate quantification of α-Glu and ß-Glu. The limits of detection for α-Glu were determined to be 0.8, 1.22, and 1.85 U/L, respectively. Similarly, the limits of detection for ß-Glu were 0.16, 0.42, and 0.53 U/L, respectively. SIGNIFICANCE: Application of the proposed sensing platform to clinical serum samples revealed significant differences in the two enzymes between healthy people and diabetic patients. Additionally, the proposed sensing method was successfully applied for the screening of α-Glu inhibitors and ß-Glu inhibitors, demonstrating its viability and prospective applications in the clinical management of diabetes as well as the discovery of antidiabetic medications.

A pretreatment-free and eco-friendly rapid detection for mycotoxins in edible oils based on magnetic separation technique.

Pretreatment steps of current rapid detection methods for mycotoxins in edible oils not only restrict detection efficiency, but also produce organic waste liquid to pollute environment. In this work, a pretreatment-free and eco-friendly rapid detection method for edible oil is established. This proposed method does not require pretreatment operation, and automated quantitative detection could be achieved by directly adding oil samples. According to polarity of target molecules, the content of surfactant in reaction solutions could be adjusted to achieve the quantitative detection of AFB1 in peanut oil and ZEN in corn oil. The recoveries are between 96.5%-110.7% with standard deviation <10.4%, and the limit of detection is 0.17 µg/kg for AFB1 and 4.91 µg/kg for ZEN. This method realizes full automation of the whole chain detection, i.e. sample in-result out, and is suitable for the on-site detection of batches of edible oils samples.

Ultrasound-triggered functional hydrogel promotes multistage bone regeneration.

The dysfunction of bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs), caused by the physical and chemical properties of the inflammatory and repair phases of bone regeneration, contributes to the failure of bone regeneration. To meet the spatiotemporal needs of BMSCs in different phases, designing biocompatible materials that respond to external stimuli, improve migration in the inflammatory phase, reduce apoptosis in the proliferative phase, and clear the hurdle in the differentiation phase of BMSCs is an effective strategy for multistage repair of bone defects. In this study, we designed a cascade-response functional composite hydrogel (Gel@Eb/HA) to regulate BMSCs dysfunction in vitro and in vivo. Gel@Eb/HA improved the migration of BMSCs by upregulating the expression of chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 5 (CCL5) during the inflammatory phase. Ultrasound (US) triggered the rapid release of Ebselen (Eb), eliminating the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in BMSCs, and reversing apoptosis under oxidative stress. Continued US treatment accelerated the degradation of the materials, thereby providing Ca2+ for the osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs. Altogether, our study highlights the prospects of US-controlled intelligent system, that provides a novel strategy for addressing the complexities of multistage bone repair.

Hierarchical online contrastive anomaly detection for fetal arrhythmia diagnosis in ultrasound.

Arrhythmia is a major cardiac abnormality in fetuses. Therefore, early diagnosis of arrhythmia is clinically crucial. Pulsed-wave Doppler ultrasound is a commonly used diagnostic tool for fetal arrhythmia. Its key step for diagnosis involves identifying adjacent measurable cardiac cycles (MCCs). As cardiac activity is complex and the experience of sonographers is often varied, automation can improve user-independence and diagnostic-validity. However, arrhythmias pose several challenges for automation because of complex waveform variations, which can cause major localization bias and missed or false detection of MCCs. Filtering out non-MCC anomalies is difficult because of large intra-class and small inter-class variations between MCCs and non-MCCs caused by agnostic morphological waveform variations. Moreover, rare arrhythmia cases are insufficient for classification algorithms to adequately learn discriminative features. Using only normal cases for training, we propose a novel hierarchical online contrastive anomaly detection (HOCAD) framework for arrhythmia diagnosis during test time. The contribution of this study is three-fold. First, we develop a coarse-to-fine framework inspired by hierarchical diagnostic logic, which can refine localization and avoid missed detection of MCCs. Second, we propose an online learning-based contrastive anomaly detection with two new anomaly scores, which can adaptively filter out non-MCC anomalies on a single image during testing. With these complementary efforts, we precisely determine MCCs for correct measurements and diagnosis. Third, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported study investigating intelligent diagnosis of fetal arrhythmia on a large-scale and multi-center ultrasound dataset. Extensive experiments on 3850 cases, including 266 cases covering three typical types of arrhythmias, demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework.

Molecular, morphological, and morphometric evidence reveal a new, critically endangered rattlepod (Crotalaria, Fabaceae/Leguminosae, Papilionoideae) from tropical China.

Here, we describe a new species of Crotalaria L. discovered in Mengla County, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan, China. The new species, Crotalariamenglaensis S.A.Rather, was confirmed by identifying diagnostic morphological characteristics, performing principal component analyses of phenotypic traits, and phylogenetic analyses based on nuclear ITS and plastid matK sequences. Phylogenetic analyses recovered the two accessions of the new species to be sister to C.bracteata Roxb. ex DC. In turn, these two species formed the sister clade to the two accessions of C.incana L. The morphometric analyses revealed that all three species were distinct, while the analyses of distinctive characters enabled unambiguous distinction of the new species by its growth habit, leaflets, flower structure and pod morphology. In contrast to the two related species, the new species is currently known only from ca. 100 mature individuals. Thus, this species is considered to be critically endangered.

Design of double-core-shell structural materials for the extraction of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

In this work, core-shell material with a special structure was designed and applied in solid-phase extraction (SPE) for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) combined with high-performance liquid chromatography. Based on the advantages of core-shell ZIF-8@ZIF-67 (Zeolite imidazole ester framework materials [ZIFs]), effective derivatization treatment was carried out to partially vulcanize the original ZIFs, resulting in a special and new double-core-shell structural material CoS/ZIF-67/ZnS/ZIF-8 (ZIFs@ZnS@CoS) with porous surface and center hollow. The multiple forces caused by the rich chemical structure, the large specific surface area caused by the special pore structure, and the effective protection of the ZIFs core by sulfide shell make the designed material have higher extraction efficiency and longer service life, compared with ZIF-8@ZIF-67 and ZIF-8. At the same time, the established analytical method for non-steroidal drugs had a high recovery rate (98.93%-102.10%), low detection limit (0.11-0.27 µg/L), and wide linear range (1-200 µg/L) within a good correlation coefficient R2 (0.9978-0.9993). Satisfactory results were also obtained from the extraction of NSAIDs from the Yellow River water samples. These results indicate that the designed double-core-shell structure material can effectively exert its structural advantages and become a promising extraction material.

Mono-, di- and trimetallic coinage nanoparticles prepared via the Brust-Schiffrin method.

The Brust-Schiffrin two-phase method is a facile way to prepare thiolate-protected metal nanoparticles, but its mechanism remains controversial. In this work, we demonstrate the use of the Brust-Schiffrin method based on coordination compound theory. We confirmed that the formation of stable complexes is the driving force for a series chemical reaction in the organic phase. We found that the stable Cu(I)-thiolate complex decreased the half-cell reduction potential of Cu(I)/Cu(0). Thus, when thiol ligands were in excess, thiolate-protected Cu(I) clusters formed rather than Cu(0)-cored nanoparticles. The thiolate-protected metal-hydride nanoclusters were the intermediate between the metal complexes and nanoparticles. The "metallophilic" interactions of the d10 closed-shell electronic configuration of the metal coordination centers were proposed as the driving force for nanocluster and nanoparticle formation. To confirm this mechanism, we synthesized Au, Ag, and Cu monometallic nanoparticles and bi- and trimetallic nanoparticles. We found that although thiolate-protected Cu(I) nanoclusters are not easily reduced, they can combine with Au and/or Ag nanoclusters to form nanoparticles. The proposed mechanism is expected to provide deeper insight into the Brust-Schiffrin method and further extend its application to metals other than Au, Ag and Cu.

Heterologous expression of the insect SVWC peptide WHIS1 inhibits Candida albicans invasion into A549 and HeLa epithelial cells.

Candida albicans (C. albicans), a microbe commonly isolated from Candida vaginitis patients with vaginal tract infections, transforms from yeast to hyphae and produces many toxins, adhesins, and invasins, as well as C. albicans biofilms resistant to antifungal antibiotic treatment. Effective agents against this pathogen are urgently needed. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been used to cure inflammation and infectious diseases. In this study, we isolated whole housefly larvae insect SVWC peptide 1 (WHIS1), a novel insect single von Willebrand factor C-domain protein (SVWC) peptide from whole housefly larvae. The expression pattern of WHIS1 showed a response to the stimulation of C. albicans. In contrast to other SVWC members, which function as antiviral peptides, interferon (IFN) analogs or pathogen recognition receptors (PRRs), which are the prokaryotically expressed MdWHIS1 protein, inhibit the growth of C. albicans. Eukaryotic heterologous expression of WHIS1 inhibited C. albicans invasion into A549 and HeLa cells. The heterologous expression of WHIS1 clearly inhibited hyphal formation both extracellularly and intracellularly. Furthermore, the mechanism of WHIS1 has demonstrated that it downregulates all key hyphal formation factors (ALS1, ALS3, ALS5, ECE1, HWP1, HGC1, EFG1, and ZAP1) both extracellularly and intracellularly. These data showed that heterologously expressed WHIS1 inhibits C. albicans invasion into epithelial cells by affecting hyphal formation and adhesion factor-related gene expression. These findings provide new potential drug candidates for treating C. albicans infection.

Nomogram for the preoperative prediction of Ki-67 expression and prognosis in stage IA lung adenocarcinoma based on clinical and multi-slice spiral computed tomography features.

OBJECTIVE: This study developed and validated a nomogram utilizing clinical and multi-slice spiral computed tomography (MSCT) features for the preoperative prediction of Ki-67 expression in stage IA lung adenocarcinoma. Additionally, we assessed the predictive accuracy of Ki-67 expression levels, as determined by our model, in estimating the prognosis of stage IA lung adenocarcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed data from 395 patients with pathologically confirmed stage IA lung adenocarcinoma. A total of 322 patients were divided into training and internal validation groups at a 6:4 ratio, whereas the remaining 73 patients composed the external validation group. According to the pathological results, the patients were classified into high and low Ki-67 labeling index (LI) groups. Clinical and CT features were subjected to statistical analysis. The training group was used to construct a predictive model through logistic regression and to formulate a nomogram. The nomogram's predictive ability and goodness-of-fit were assessed. Internal and external validations were performed, and clinical utility was evaluated. Finally, the recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates were compared. RESULTS: In the training group, sex, age, tumor density type, tumor-lung interface, lobulation, spiculation, pleural indentation, and maximum nodule diameter differed significantly between patients with high and low Ki-67 LI. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that sex, tumor density, and maximum nodule diameter were significantly associated with high Ki-67 expression in stage IA lung adenocarcinoma. The calibration curves closely resembled the standard curves, indicating the excellent discrimination and accuracy of the model. Decision curve analysis revealed favorable clinical utility. Patients with a nomogram-predicted high Ki-67 LI exhibited worse RFS. CONCLUSION: The nomogram utilizing clinical and CT features for the preoperative prediction of Ki-67 expression in stage IA lung adenocarcinoma demonstrated excellent performance, clinical utility, and prognostic significance, suggesting that this nomogram is a noninvasive personalized approach for the preoperative prediction of Ki-67 expression.

Association between mechanical power during one-lung ventilation and pulmonary complications after thoracoscopic lung resection surgery: a prospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: The role of mechanical power on pulmonary outcomes after thoracic surgery with one-lung ventilation was unclear. We investigated the association between mechanical power and postoperative pulmonary complications in patients undergoing thoracoscopic lung resection surgery. METHODS: In this single-center, prospective observational study, 622 patients scheduled for thoracoscopic lung resection surgery were included. Volume control mode with lung protective ventilation strategies were implemented in all participants. The primary endpoint was a composite of postoperative pulmonary complications during hospital stay. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to evaluate the association between mechanical power and outcomes. RESULTS: The incidence of pulmonary complications after surgery during hospital stay was 24.6% (150 of 609 patients). The multivariable analysis showed that there was no link between mechanical power and postoperative pulmonary complications. CONCLUSIONS: In patients undergoing thoracoscopic lung resection with standardized lung-protective ventilation, no association was found between mechanical power and postoperative pulmonary complications. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Trial registration number: ChiCTR2200058528, date of registration: April 10, 2022.

Serum KL-6 and the mortality of patients with connective tissue disease-associated interstitial lung disease: A meta-analysis.

Connective tissue disease-associated interstitial lung disease (CTD-ILD) is an important underlying cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with CTD. Serum Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6) is an immune factor which has been related to the severity of ILD. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the association between serum KL-6 and mortality of patients with CTD-ILD. Longitudinal studies relevant to the aim of the meta-analysis were retrieved by search of electronic databases including PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase. A random-effects model was used to combine the data by incorporating the influence of between-study heterogeneity. Fifteen cohorts involving 1737 patients with CTD-ILD were included. During a mean follow-up of 35.3 months, 430 (24.8%) patients died. Compared to those with a lower KL-6 at admission, patients with a higher KL-6 were associated with a higher mortality risk during follow-up (risk ratio: 2.18, 95% confidence interval: 1.66 to 2.87, P < 0.001; I2 = 20%). Subgroup analysis showed a significant association in studies from Asian countries, but not in those from non-Asian countries; in studies with cutoff of KL-6 derived in receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, but not in those derived from other methods; in studies with multivariate analysis, but not in those with univariate analysis (P for subgroup difference all < 0.05). The association was not significantly affected by different CTDs or methods for measuring serum KL-6. In conclusion, a high serum KL-6 may be a risk factor of increased mortality in patients with CTD-ILD.

A general strategy for all-solid-state batteries with agglomeration-free and high conductivity achieved by improving the interface compatibility of fillers and polymer matrix.

Composite solid electrolytes (CSEs) composed of polymer matrix and inorganic fillers show considerable potential for applications in all-solid-state lithium (Li) metal batteries. However, challenges such as fillers agglomeration and low lithium ion transference number (tLi+) remain significant obstacles to the practical application of CSEs. Herein, a general strategy of graft polymerization on the fillers surface to modulate the interface compatibility with the polymer matrix is proposed, and CSEs are prepared to verify the feasibility. The microstructure and composition of the surface coating of the fillers are analyzed, with subsequent studies of the fillers distribution within the CSEs confirming the improved interface compatibility. The enhancement of interface compatibility facilitates uniform dispersion of fillers, thereby greatly improving the utilization of fillers. CSEs exhibits high ionic conductivity (0.163 mS·cm-1 at 30 °C) and tLi+ (0.77), which gives the battery excellent rate performance and cycle stability. Therefore, chemical grafting of polymer onto the fillers surface to enhance the interface compatibility with the polymer matrix represents a promising strategy for the practical application of solid-state batteries.

Alien species water hyacinth realizes waste into treasure: The preparation of biomass sorbent to determine benzoylurea insecticides in tea products.

A fast and effective analytical method with biomass solid-phase microextraction sorbent combined with a high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detector was proposed for the determination of benzoylurea (BU) insecticides in tea products. The novel sorbent was prepared by activating and then carbonizing water hyacinth with a fast growth rate and low application value as raw material and showed a high specific surface area and multiple interactions with analytes, such as electrostatic action, hydrogen bonding, and π-π conjugation. After optimizing the three most important extraction parameters (pH [X1], sample loading rate [X2], and solution volume [X3]) by Box-Behnken design, the as-established analytical method showed good extraction performance: excellent recovery (80.13%-106.66%) and wide linear range (1-400 µg/L) with a determination coefficient of 0.9992-0.9999, a low limit of detection of 0.02-0.1 µg/L and the satisfactory practical application results in tea products. All these indicate that the water hyacinth-derived material has the potential as a solid-phase extraction sorbent for the detection and removal of BU insecticides from tea products, and at the same time, it can also achieve the effect of rational use of biological resources, maintaining ecological balance, turning waste into treasure, and achieving industrial production.

Magnetic solid-phase extraction of tetracyclines from milk using metal-organic framework MIL-101(Cr)-NH2 functionalised hydrophilic magnetic nanoparticles.

Novel metal-organic framework MIL-101(Cr)-NH2 functionalised hydrophilic polydopamine-modified Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4@PDA@MIL-101(Cr)-NH2) were synthesised and used as magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) adsorbents for extracting tetracyclines (TCs) from milk samples. The integrated Fe3O4@PDA@MIL-101(Cr)-NH2 exhibited convenient magnetic separation and exceptional multi-target binding capabilities. Furthermore, the PDA coating significantly enhanced the hydrophilicity and extraction efficiency of the material, thereby facilitating the extraction of trace TCs. Various factors affecting MSPE, such as adsorbent dosage, extraction time, pH value, and desorption conditions, were optimised. The developed MSPE method coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography demonstrated good linearity (R2 ≥ 0.9989), acceptable accuracy (82.2%-106.1%), good repeatability (intra-day precision of 0.8%-4.7% and inter-day precision of 1.1%-4.5%), low limits of detection (2.18-6.25 µg L-1), and low limits of quantification (6.54-18.75 µg L-1) in TCs detection. The approach was successfully used for the quantification of trace TCs in real milk samples.

Surface modifications of short quartz fibers and their influence on the physicochemical properties and in vitro cell viability of dental composites.

OBJECTIVE: Although glass fibers are more common, quartz fibers (QFs) are also considered as the ideal reinforcing material in dentistry, due to their superior mechanical strength, high purity, and good photoconductive properties. However, the relatively inert surfaces limit their further applications. Therefore, the aim of this study is to modify the fiber surface properties to improve the interfacial interactions with polymeric resins. METHODS: In this study, we systematically introduced four different surface modification strategies onto short quartz fibers (SQFs) for the preparation of dental composites. Particularly, the acid etching was a facile way to create mechanical interlocking structures. In addition, the silanization process, the sol-gel treatment, and the polymer grafting were further proposed to increase the surface roughness and the reactive sites. The effect of surface modifications on the fiber surface morphological changes, mechanical properties, water stability, and in vitro cell viability of dental composites were investigated. RESULTS: Among all surface-modified SQFs, SQFs-POSS (SQFs modified with methacrylate-POSS) exhibited the roughest surface morphology and highest grafting rates compared with other three materials. Furthermore, all these SQFs were applied as reinforcements to make dimethacrylate-based dental resin composites. Of all fillers, SQFs-POSS demonstrated the best reinforcing effect, providing significantly higher improvements of 55.7 %, 114.3 %, and 164.7 % for flexural strength, flexural modulus, and breaking energy, respectively, over those of SQFs-filled composite. The related reinforcing mechanism was further investigated. The SQFs-POSS-filled composite also exhibited the best water stability performance and in vitro cell viability. SIGNIFICANCE: This work provided valuable insights into the optimization of filler-matrix interaction through fiber surface modifications. Specifically, SQFs-POSS markedly outperformed other formulations in terms of the physicochemical performance and in vitro cytotoxicity, which offers possibilities for developing high-performance dental composites for clinical applications in restorative dentistry.

An injectable refrigerated hydrogel for inducing local hypothermia and neuroprotection against traumatic brain injury in mice.

BACKGROUND: Hypothermia is a promising therapy for traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the clinic. However, the neuroprotective outcomes of hypothermia-treated TBI patients in clinical studies are inconsistent due to several severe side effects. Here, an injectable refrigerated hydrogel was designed to deliver 3-iodothyronamine (T1AM) to achieve a longer period of local hypothermia for TBI treatment. Hydrogel has four advantages: (1) It can be injected into injured sites after TBI, where it forms a hydrogel and avoids the side effects of whole-body cooling. (2) Hydrogels can biodegrade and be used for controlled drug release. (3) Released T1AM can induce hypothermia. (4) This hydrogel has increased medical value given its simple operation and ability to achieve timely treatment. METHODS: Pol/T hydrogels were prepared by a low-temperature mixing method and characterized. The effect of the Pol/T hydrogel on traumatic brain injury in mice was studied. The degradation of the hydrogel at the body level was observed with a small animal imager. Brain temperature and body temperature were measured by brain thermometer and body thermometer, respectively. The apoptosis of peripheral nerve cells was detected by immunohistochemical staining. The protective effect of the hydrogels on the blood-brain barrier (BBB) after TBI was evaluated by the Evans blue penetration test. The protective effect of hydrogel on brain edema after injury in mice was detected by Magnetic resonance (MR) in small animals. The enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method was used to measure the levels of inflammatory factors. The effects of behavioral tests on the learning ability and exercise ability of mice after injury were evaluated. RESULTS: This hydrogel was able to cool the brain to hypothermia for 12 h while maintaining body temperature within the normal range after TBI in mice. More importantly, hypothermia induced by this hydrogel leads to the maintenance of BBB integrity, the prevention of cell death, the reduction of the inflammatory response and brain edema, and the promotion of functional recovery after TBI in mice. This cooling method could be developed as a new approach for hypothermia treatment in TBI patients. CONCLUSION: Our study showed that injectable and biodegradable frozen Pol/T hydrogels to induce local hypothermia in TBI mice can be used for the treatment of traumatic brain injury.

Correlation between NGS panel-based mutation results and clinical information in colorectal cancer patients.

Early mutation identification guides patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) toward targeted therapies. In the present study, 414 patients with CRC were enrolled, and amplicon-based targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) was then performed to detect genomic alterations within the 73 cancer-related genes in the OncoAim panel. The overall mutation rate was 91.5 % (379/414). Gene mutations were detected in 38/73 genes tested. The most frequently mutated genes were TP53 (60.9 %), KRAS (46.6 %), APC (30.4 %), PIK3CA (15.9 %), FBXW7 (8.2 %), SMAD4 (6.8 %), BRAF (6.5 %), and NRAS (3.9 %). Compared with the wild type, TP53 mutations were associated with low microsatellite instability/microsatellite stability (MSI-L/MSS) (P = 0.007), tumor location (P = 0.043), and histological grade (P = 0.0009); KRAS mutations were associated with female gender (P = 0.026), distant metastasis (P = 0.023), TNM stage (P = 0.013), and histological grade (P = 0.004); APC mutations were associated with patients <64 years of age at diagnosis (P = 0.04); PIK3CA mutations were associated with tumor location (P = 4.97e-06) and female gender (P = 0.018); SMAD4 mutations were associated with tumor location (P = 0.033); BRAF mutations were associated with high MSI (MSI-H; P = 6.968e-07), tumor location (P = 1.58e-06), and histological grade (P = 0.04). Mutations in 164 individuals were found to be pathogenic or likely pathogenic. A total of 26 patients harbored MSI-H tumors and they all had at least one detected gene mutation. Mutated genes were enriched in signaling pathways associated with CRC. The present findings have important implications for improving the personalized treatment of patients with CRC in China.

Degradation of edible mushroom waste by Hermetia illucens L. and consequent adaptation of its gut microbiota.

The edible fungus industry is one of the pillar industries in the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, China. The expansion of the planting scale has led to the release of various mushroom residues, such as mushroom feet, and other wastes, which are not treated adequately, resulting in environmental pollution. This study investigated the ability of black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens L.) larvae (BSFL) to degrade mushroom waste. Moreover, this study analyzed changes in the intestinal bacterial community and gene expression of BSFL after feeding on mushroom waste. Under identical feeding conditions, the remaining amount of mushroom waste in Pleurotus ostreatus treatment group was reduced by 18.66%, whereas that in Flammulina velutipes treatment group was increased by 31.08%. Regarding gut microbial diversity, compared with wheat bran-treated control group, Dysgonomonas, Providencia, Enterococcus, Pseudochrobactrum, Actinomyces, Morganella, Ochrobactrum, Raoultella, and Ignatzschineria were the most abundant bacteria in the midgut of BSFL in F. velutipes treatment group. Furthermore, Dysgonomonas, Campylobacter, Providencia, Ignatzschineria, Actinomyces, Enterococcus, Morganella, Raoultella, and Pseudochrobactrum were the most abundant bacteria in the midgut of BSFL in P. ostreatus treatment group. Compared with wheat bran-treated control group, 501 upregulated and 285 downregulated genes were identified in F. velutipes treatment group, whereas 211 upregulated and 43 downregulated genes were identified in P. ostreatus treatment group. Using Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes and Gene Ontology enrichment analyses, we identified 14 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism in F. velutipes treatment group, followed by 12 DEGs related to protein digestion and absorption. Moreover, in P. ostreatus treatment group, two DEGs were detected for fructose and mannose metabolism, and two were noted for fatty acid metabolism. These results indicate that feeding on edible mushroom waste can alter the intestinal microbial community structure of BSFL; moreover, the larval intestine can generate a corresponding feedback. These changes contribute to the degradation of edible mushroom waste by BSFL and provide a reference for treating edible mushroom waste using BSFL.